Tribological behavior of aluminum silicon eutectic alloy based composites under dry and wet sliding for variable load and sliding distance

In most of the studies, the tribopair as well as tribo-components interfaces are lubricated using different lubricating oil or solid tribofilms. In the present study, the anti-friction and anti-wear performance of the tribopair is improved using nano-Aluminium Oxide (Al2O3) and Graphene Nano Platelets (GNP) as reinforcement for composite and additive for lubricant respectively. Composite material and nano lubricants have attracted the interest of many researchers around the globe to enhance the life, durability and to reduce the friction and wear losses of mechanical components. Hence the objective of this study is to provide an insight to friction and wear reduction behavior of n–Al2O3 and GNP from the tribological aspect. The samples are fabricated using Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) rapid fabrication route and their tribological properties are determined against chromium-plated-chrome-steel under dry and wet conditions at room temperature using universal reciprocating tribometer. From the results, it is reported that composite samples with (PAO-4 + 0.5 wt% GNP + OA) nano-lubricant exhibit excellent tribological properties. This reduction is friction and wear is attributed to the hard phase ceramic reinforcements and nano-additive in lubricant that provides excellent tribological performance as well as Oleic Acid (OA) which help to improve the dispersion stability of the nano particles in the lubricating oil. Different surface characterization tools i.e. Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Electron Dispersion Spectroscopy, 3D surface profilometer are used in this study to understand the wear and lubrication mechanism after tribological testing.